Battery installation site assessment Workflow

Why should we automate battery installation site assessments instead of managing them manually?

Manually tracking site inspections, designer reviews and revision requests across email and spreadsheets makes it easy to lose track of which report version a customer is waiting on. This workflow keeps the inspection data, review decisions and revision history on one record with a visible status, so anyone in the workspace can see where a report stands. It also automates the customer email and the handoff to an estimator, reducing the manual steps needed once a report is approved.

What is the ROI of using this workflow compared to handling reviews over email?

Email-based review cycles often require someone to manually track which report version is current and chase inspectors for changes. This workflow removes that overhead by assigning the review task directly to the solar designer and looping revisions back to the inspector automatically, with each update saved to the record. Teams typically see time savings from fewer status check-ins and faster turnaround from inspection to customer report.

Who is involved in this workflow and what do they do?

The inspector submits the initial site assessment through the request form and updates the report if the solar designer requests changes. The solar designer reviews the submitted report, records a decision of Approved or Changes needed along with comments, and can trigger the revision loop. If a battery installation is recommended, an estimator receives a task to prepare a quote, though the workflow does not wait for that task to finish.

What happens when the solar designer requests changes to the report?

When the review decision is Changes needed, the record status is set to Revising and the inspector receives a task to update the defects found and recommended work based on the designer's comments. Once the inspector submits those updates, they are saved to the record, the status resets to Report Review, and the workflow returns to the designer review task to restart the cycle. This loop can repeat until the designer approves the report.

What happens after the solar designer approves the report?

Once the review decision is Approved, the record status changes to Report Sent and the workflow automatically emails the customer the site suitability, proposed battery location, switchboard findings, recommended battery size and backup circuits. The workflow then checks whether a battery installation is recommended to decide the next step.

How does the workflow decide whether to create a quote task?

After the approved report is emailed to the customer, the workflow checks the Battery Installation Recommended field. If it is Yes, the status is set to Quote to Follow and an estimator receives a task to prepare a battery installation quote, with their quote preparation notes kept on that task. If it is No, the record status is set to Closed.

Can we customise the fields captured on the site assessment form?

Yes, the request form fields such as switchboard capacity, wall construction, clearances and energy use from recent bills can be adjusted by describing the change in plain English or editing the steps directly in the workflow editor. Earlier versions of the workflow are kept, so changes can be reviewed or reverted if needed.

Does the customer need to log in to receive or respond to the report?

No, customers take part through the public request form and through forms emailed to them, without needing to create an account. In this workflow, the customer receives the approved site report by email directly to the address they provided.

How is progress on a site assessment tracked?

Each submitted inspection becomes a record with a reference number, a status such as Report Review, Revising, Report Sent, Quote to Follow or Closed, and a timeline showing what happened at each step. Table views and dashboards display records by status, making it straightforward to see which assessments are awaiting review, revision or a quote.

What information from the inspection is saved on the record versus kept on a task?

Fields captured on the request form, along with the solar designer's Review Decision and Comments and the inspector's Updated Defects Found and Updated Recommended Work, are saved to the record because the workflow waits for those tasks. The estimator's Quote Preparation Notes stay with that task, shown in the record's task list, since the workflow does not wait for the quote task to complete.